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Michigan State's lack of first round picks reveals the gap Mel Tucker is trying to close

If the Spartans want to compete on a national level, more talent must be brought to East Lansing

The first round of the 2022 NFL Draft has come and gone, and Michigan State football has still not produced a first round selection since 2016, when offensive tackle Jack Conklin was selected No. 8 overall by the Tennessee Titans.

On Thursday, tailback Kenneth Walker III was far and away the Spartans' best chance at a first round pick, but the Doak Walker and Walter Camp Award-winning running back remains on the board.

Mel Tucker and Michigan State have openly declared their intention to compete for national championships, but until the Spartans begin to recruit, develop and produce first round NFL talent, those intentions will never be satisfied.

Since the College Football Playoff debuted in 2014, five different schools have won national championships: Ohio State, Alabama, Clemson, LSU and Georgia.

Since 2016, the last time Michigan State had a first round draft pick, here's how many first-rounders those schools have produced: Alabama — 24, Ohio State — 13, Georgia — 12, LSU — 11, Clemson — 9. It's no coincidence that the five schools that have won national titles are the same five schools to produce the most first-rounders since 2016.

Michigan State is no where near those programs right now. That's not debatable. However, Tucker and his staff have providing means of encouragement moving forward when it comes to improving the Spartans' talent pool.

In 2022, Michigan State signed five Top 300 players in its latest recruiting class, two more than the program signed in the previous three classes combined. The Spartans' 2022 recruiting class finished No. 23 in the nation, the program's highest-rated class since the 2016 class finished No. 17.

Tucker and his staff are already off to a strong start in the 2023 class as well, which is currently ranked No. 16 in the nation, and Michigan State is in contention for several other high-profile prospects in this class.

Another area that the Spartans need to improve is at the quarterback position. That's not a shot at Payton Thorne — I like him a lot and I think he's in for a big year in 2022 — but there is a gap between the signal-callers that those top programs are recruiting and what Michigan State has recruited.

Here are the quarterbacks who have won national championships since 2014: Cardale Jones, Ohio State; Jake Coker, Alabama; DeShaun Watson, Clemson; Jalen Hurts/Tua Tagovailoa, Alabama; Trevor Lawrence, Clemson; Joe Burrow, LSU; Mac Jones, Alabama; Stetson Bennett, Georgia.

Watson, Tagovailoa, Lawrence, Burrow and Mac Jones were all first round draft picks, while Hurts was a second round pick and Cardale Jones was a fourth round pick.

Coker went undrafted, and Bennett is not a guy who I expect to be drafted — he is returning to Georgia in 2022. However, the defenses these quarterbacks had — 2015 Alabama and 2022 Georgia — are considered two of the most dominant defenses in college football history.

Michigan State has not had a quarterback selected in the NFL Draft since Connor Cook in the fourth round of 2016. The Spartans have not produced a first round quarterback since Earl Morrall in 1956, and haven't had a QB taken in the second round since Drew Stanton went No. 43 overall in 2007.

Can Thorne be a future NFL Draft pick?

I think so, yes. But he's not on the same level as those first-rounders listed above. The average recruiting ranking of the nine championship-winning quarterbacks above is No. 224 nationally. Thorne was ranked No. 1,096 out of high school.

Maybe, over the next couple years, true freshman Katin Houser can develop into the caliber of quarterback that Michigan State needs to compete on a national level. Houser was ranked No. 227 out of high school.

Tucker has Michigan State moving in the right direction. The Spartans won 11 games in 2021, and the program is attracting top talent in a way that hasn't been seen in a long time, maybe ever, in East Lansing.

But Michigan State has a LONG way to go before it can call itself a national championship contender.